G. Britton - Böcker

In recent years, the importance of carotenoids as light harvesting and photoprotective compounds of the photsynthetic apparatus has become apparent. In particular, advances in caratenoid photochemistry have led to significant developments in our understanding of the mechanisms of photsynthesis. This volume is a comprehensive study of the biology, biochemistry and chemistry of carotenoids in higher plants, algae and phototropic bacteria. Emphasis is placed on the photochemistry of carotenoids and the techniques used to study them. Other chapters focus on the nature and distribution of carotenoids in photosynthetic organisms, their biosynthesis and molecular biology, herbicidal inhibition of carotenogenesis and a review of the xanthophyll cycle.

In the natural world colour is obvious and its importance in advertising the presence of flowers to pollinators and in camouflage is well known. In most cases the property of colour is due to the presence in the tissues of natural pigments. But these pigments are of much greater importance than merely to give colour, e.g. the fundamental light-harvesting molecules of photosynthesis, the light-detecting molecules of vision and haemoglobin in the blood. This book describes the structures and properties of the main groups of natural pigments, their distribution in Nature, their biosynthesis and functions and their associated chemistry and biology. Industrial applications, and medical significance and uses, of certain groups of pigments are outlined and some ecological aspects of colour and pigmentation are touched upon. The book was written as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students and concentrates on the main features of each class of pigments and on general principles.

Each of the 20 chapters in this text is written by leading experts in the area of carotenoid research and gives a comprehensive overview of a particular topic in the field. The book is organized into five sub-areas: (1) biosynthetic pathways and the distribution of carotenoids in photosynthetic organisms; (2) structure of carotenoid-chlorophyll protein complexes; (3) electronic structure, stereochemistry, spectrochemistry, spectroscopy, dynamics and radicals; (4) eco-physiology and the xanthophyll cycle; and (5) model systems. Correlations between the photochemical behavior of carotenoids in vitro and in vivo are discussed. The various contributions review the basic hypotheses about how carotenoids function and give details regarding testing different molecular models using state-of-the-art experimental methodologies.

Each of the twenty chapters in The Photochemistry of Carotenoids is written by leading experts in the area of carotenoid research and gives a comprehensive overview of a particular topic in the field. The book is organized into five sub-areas: (1) Biosynthetic pathways and the distribution of carotenoids in photosynthetic organisms; (2) Structure of carotenoid-chlorophyll protein complexes; (3) Electronic structure, stereochemistry, spectroscopy, dynamics and radicals; (4) Eco-physiology and the xanthophyll cycle; and (5) Model systems. Correlations between the photochemical behavior of carotenoids in vitro and in vivo are discussed. The various contributions review the basic hypotheses about how carotenoids function and give details regarding testing different molecular models using state-of-the-art experimental methodologies. The book is intended for use by beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate students and researchers in Plant Physiology, Ecology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Medicine, and will also be extremely useful as a general reference on photochemical processes in Chemistry, Physics and Biology.